Marmitako Vasco

Marmitako is Basque, from the fishing towns that know bonito del norte best. It is a potato pot before it is a fish stew: onion, green pepper, tomato, choricero pepper, potatoes, and bonito added only at the end so it stays juicy. That is what makes it marmitako and not just tuna cooked in broth.

The method that decides it is the potato. You don't slice it cleanly. You cut partway in, then snap the piece off with the knife, cascar la patata, so the rough edge releases starch and thickens the broth while it simmers. A neat cube behaves too politely. A broken potato gives the pot its body.

Use bonito del norte in summer if you can get it. If you're far from the Basque coast, no hace falta haber pisado España: buy fresh albacore tuna steaks, or good yellowfin at a pinch, and cut them thick so they don't dry out. Choricero pepper paste is worth finding; if not, use soaked ñoras scraped from their skins. The flavour will be a little softer, but the dish still knows where it belongs.

Once the potatoes are tender, turn the heat low and let the bonito finish in the heat of the pot. Boil it hard and you've made it dry. Let it settle five minutes and the broth turns glossy and red-gold, with the potato edges just starting to melt. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.